


Disharmony Needed

by Marien



Category: Austin & Murry-O'Keefe Families - Madeleine L'Engle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-10 00:47:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13493316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marien/pseuds/Marien
Summary: After her husband and children are safely home, Kate Murry discovers that the story isn't quite finished...





	1. Bunsen Burners and Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place a few days after the end of _A Wrinkle In Time._

Kate left the door of her lab open. Normally, when she was working, it was firmly shut. But it was almost midnight; the children were asleep. If Alex woke and found her gone from their bedroom, she wanted to be sure he knew he could come in if he wanted.  
Exhaustion had kept him sleeping without dreams, the first two nights after he'd returned, but on the third....memories of the last year had surfaced.  
He, Charles Wallace, Calvin and Meg had explained their adventure to her as best they could. It didn't occur to her to doubt them.  
Just as it hadn't occurred to her to inform his _former_ superiors that he was back, not yet. Alex had asked her to wait, before calling them. He needed time to think, to regain his balance. The government bureaucrats would have insisted he come in to "debrief". 

Fortinbras peeked around the doorsill. "Sorry, boy," she said. "No bacon. I'll have to go to the store tomorrow."

She'd needed to work. The descriptions they'd given her of IT--and of her family's ordeals--had chilled her, too. She needed to chase 'what-ifs' away. They were home and safe, that was what mattered. 

As she siid a culture under her microscope, she caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye. Startled, she jerked her head up.

"Mrs. Whatsit?"

"Hello, dearie." The woman(star?) smiled wearily. "May I come in?"

Kate put her tools aside. "Yes, of course. Is everything all right?" 

Mrs.Whatsit entered and perched on a nearby stool. "Here it is. It's peaceful... not so much on a dark planet."

"Camazotz? " Kate shuddered. "No, I'm sure not. "

"IT is dying," Mrs. Whatsit said abruptly. "After so long...Camazotz fell under ITs control almost a hundred years ago. Nothing has challenged or hurt it in all that time, and to have not one but four people strike at it, then escape...IT's weaker than it realized. The battle your family gave IT cost it in power, and in the lifespan it had left."

Kate mulled that over; wondered if offering a toast to the...creature's... death, would be upsetting to her guest. Or roasting marshmallows over the Bunsen burner in quiet celebration. She and Alex had used to do that, when they first started dating...he still liked sweets.  
Then she shook off that flare of anger, as she followed Mrs. Whatsit's comments to a worrying end. "The people there ? Will they---"

"Most can't be saved." Mrs. Whatsit's expression was haunted. "They've been one with the darkness too long to survive independently. But--it's possible for the youngest, some of them, we hope. I--we--need mortal help, though."

"What can I do?" Kate held out a hand, palm up. 

The woman hesitated, then leaned forward and put something in Kate's grasp. A small rubber ball; a child's toy, sticky with dirt and blood.

 

(TBC)


	2. Red And Gray

Kate shivered as she followed Mrs. Whatsit out of the house, to the large flat rock she and the other Murrys used for star-gazing on clear nights. Grass and a few fallen leaves crunched underfoot.   
"Something I don't understand...Why did Alex end up on Camazotz in the first place? If it's so hard to tesser onto a dark planet, him ending up there accidentally seems odd. Particularly when he didn't even know it existed!"   
Kate didn't try to hide her nervousness. She rather thought that nerves were preferable to overconfidence or lack of knowledge.

"Tessering means letting go of one's normal perceptions, in some ways. For those of us who think in three dimensions, it's   
hard to grasp and think clearly through. As for the dark planets, it's not going there that's terribly difficult, dearie, it's the leaving." The woman paused, and made a strange face. "Oh sweet light, you didn't think I was asking you to go _there_ , did--Yes, you did. I...see where Meg gets her courage from," she said softly. "No, Kate. Thank you, but he's not there--we brought him away, to Ixchel. My sisters are watching over him for now." 

Kate fingered the toy in her pocket. "All right. Whatever I can do, I will." 

There was a wild gust of wind, and everything went dark. 

She stumbled and almost fell as they emerged in a gray, dimly lit landscape. 

The other two Mrs. W's were kneeling a short distance away. An unmoving little figure lay beside them.   
Kate's heart twisted as she looked at him. _Dear God help me...he barely looks older than Charles Wallace._

She crouched by them. His hand was ice-cold when she checked for his pulse. 

He opened his eyes--and began to scream. "No! Please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry--"

Kate jerked back, cursing herself silently. She'd seen people who'd been abused before, she should have _known_ better than to touch him without any warning. 

"It's all right, Jeren," Mrs. Who soothed. " She's here to help."

He gulped hard, tears slipping down his face. 

"My name is Kate, Jeren. I think you met some of my family not so long ago, do you remember?" She kept her tone casual. 

He blinked. "The boys and the angry girl. Y-you sound like her. D-d-did IT put them away too?"

"No. They're at home. They're safe. So are you. I'm sorry I frightened you."

She peeled off her jacket, offering it to Mrs. Who. The woman nodded approvingly. Jeren let her drape the cloth over him. "It's warm. It smells...nice. Like burnt bread."

Kate chuckled wryly at that. 

"Arrrre you hunnngry?" Mrs. Which asked. 

"Um. A little. Could I have some water?" 

He let Kate help him to sit up, while Mrs. Whatsit left and returned quickly with a bowl of food and a cup. The food was an odd purplish color, but it smelled delicious.   
He ate a few bites, watching them nervously as he did. His hands were bruised from fingertips to wrists, and the front of his shirt still held a half-dried bloodstain. 

"Are--do I have to go back soon?" 

Kate nearly exploded as the meaning of his question sank in. She held onto a poker face with grim determination, and said, "You don't have to go back. Ever."


End file.
